MARACAIBO, VENEZUELA — Government representatives led by Nicolás Maduro and academic experts agreed upon a protocol for “urgent responses” to address the issue of excessive microalgae proliferation in Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela’s largest lake and one of the oldest in the world.
An “interorganizational” meeting took place last Friday at the offices of the Water Research Center in the Engineering Faculty of the University of Zulia, according to a statement released on Sunday and signed by the Ministry of Ecosocialism, various government entities, and academic units from that educational institution.
This meeting was prompted by numerous citizen complaints and media reports, both nationally and internationally, about the state of Maracaibo Lake’s waters, affected by “verdín,” a kind of bacteria that appears on the water’s surface.
Josué Lorca, head of Ecosocialism, participated in the meeting, along with Armando Portillo, president of the Institute for the Conservation of Lake Maracaibo (ICLAM), and Franklin Leal, director of the Observatory for the Climate Crisis.
Doris Salas, the dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Education, represented the rector of the University of Zulia, Judith Aular. Mario Herrera, the dean of the Engineering Faculty, and Suher Yabroudi of the Water Research Center were also present.
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The joint document from the government and the Venezuelan experts, warns about the environmental situation and the cyclical nature of Lake Maracaibo, which covers an area of 13,000 square kilometers. It identifies the issue as resulting from multifaceted factors and raises concern among the population.
The first step of this initiative is to form a permanent committee consisting of the Ministry of Ecosocialism, ICLAM, and the Water Research Center of the Engineering Faculty of LUZ. This committee will promote the creation of working groups that will also include state oil company PDVSA, the Prosecutor’s Office, the Vice Presidency of Science and Technology, municipalities, and representatives from the private sector, according to the document.
In addition, the plan agreed upon includes comprehensive environmental monitoring of the lake and the creation of legal regulations to regulate the levels of organic material and nutrients in this body of water. A regulatory framework will also be created for controlling the levels of organic material and nutrients in the lake’s waters.
These measures will ensure compliance with the norms and regulations on wastewater discharges into the lake, according to the statement.
The protocol also involves strengthening the ongoing monitoring of satellite images to detect any kind of event in the lake in real-time. In addition, the agreement entails the development of a legal framework to control the agricultural, livestock, aquaculture, and hydraulic infrastructure activities in order to reduce the nutrient loads contributed by the rivers in the south of the lake.
Other parts of the agreement include strengthening the monitoring of satellite images for real-time detection of any event in the lake, and creating a legal framework to regulate levels of organic material and nutrients in the body of water.
The agreed-upon plan will be executed in the short, medium, and long term. The statement was released three days after the Minister of Ecosocialism said that the Lake was in excellent condition and that its ecosystem was healthy.
The agreement outlines the next steps to take, including the strengthening of the ongoing monitoring of satellite images to detect any kind of event in the lake in real-time, the creation of a regulatory framework to control the levels of organic material and nutrients in the lake’s waters, and the development of a legal framework to control the agricultural, livestock, aquaculture, and hydraulic infrastructure activities to reduce the nutrient loads contributed by the rivers in the south of the lake.
